The chairman was accompanied by the bank’s Presidents P K Tickoo, Abdul Rashid Sheigan, and Zonal Head Kashmir Central-I Manzoor Hussain, Vice Presidents and other senior functionaries of the bank.

After the inaugural ceremony, Parvez Ahmed had an interactive session with the doctors, para-medical and other staff stationed at JLNM hospital.

Addressing the doctors present on the occasion, Parvez Ahmed highlighted the extraordinary role played by medical fraternity while operating in the challenging environment in the valley.

“I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the medical fraternity of the state which is working in a difficult environment round the clock. Today I feel honoured to dedicate this ATM for the service of the public in general and the JLNM staff in particular”, said Parvez Ahmed.

“Our state has produced a number of doctors who earned social and global acclaim for their extraordinary services and research-work in different fields of medicine and brought laurels to the state,” he added.

Recollecting some examples, Chairman said, “The memory of Dr Ali Jan is fresh in our conversations even after few decades of his death. One feels proud to know that Doctor Ghulam Nabi from Karnah has led the path-breaking research for diagnosing prostate cancer.”

Speaking of the bank’s role, he said, “As a financial institution, we would like to see required up-gradation of infrastructure in the health sector that not only takes the diagnostic facilities available here to the next level but makes the best patient care possible in the state. That, in turn, will create the requisite conditions for health tourism which has got a huge potential in the valley given the heavenly hill stations available to us across the valley.”

“For all this to happen, we want more and more professionals to come forward and take up the projects for upgrading the infrastructure. We shall remain open to the big but viable ideas in this regard for the comprehensive development of health sector in the state”, he added.

On the occasion, Parvez Ahmed also announced a Cash Deposit Machine (CDM) shall be installed in the hospital premises in near future.

“Keeping in view, the busy work schedule of the doctors and other staff who hardly get time to deposit cash in the branches, we have decided to install a CDM in the hospital soon,” said Parvez Ahmed. He was responding to the demand of the DG Health, Dr Saleem-ur-Rehman and Medical Superintendent Dr Nazir Shahdad.

He also congratulated Dr Saleem Ur Rehman for his elevation as Director General Health Department J&K. The chairman also thanked Dr Nazir Shahdad for his remarkable support and guidance to the bank especially in installing the ATM in hospital premises.

Earlier addressing the audience, Director General Health Department Dr Saleem Ur Rehman expressed gratitude to J&K Bank for commissioning the ATM in hospital premises and also spoke about the positive role of J&K Bank as a socially conscious economic institution of the state.

“The commissioning of this ATM by Chairman himself shows the commitment of J&K Bank in being an important stakeholder in the development of every sector including health. J&K Bank has been able to maintain the stature and credibility among the people of the state through its dedicated service and the customized products”, he said.

Dr. Nazir commended role of the bank in the socio-economic development of the state. He hailed the bank for tailoring customized schemes for different sections of the society to bring prosperity in them.

Pertinently, with the commissioning of today’s ATM, the total number of such machines operating in the Kashmir Division increased to 713. Notably, the Chairman gave a patient hearing to the various queries and suggestions put forth by doctors in the meeting.